Audeze LCD-2 "Vegan" Earpads - feedback, installation & mini-review

I got my LCD-2.1s in late November 2010. Even with my serial number the folks at Audeze can not be certain whether my pair had the newest "thick" earpads. While mine are angled, they don't appear as thick at the rear as most of the photos I've seen. However, photos can be deceiving. As a result, I'm considering purchasing replacement earpads. When I saw they had non-leather pads, I thought they might be more comfortable and, just maybe, sound better than leather pads. They also look nice with the wooden earcups. Audeze states:

Quote:

Leather Free Version

Fri, 11/11/2011 - 09:14 | by admin

We have had several requests for leather free version of the LCD-2 headphones. The earpads of the LCD series headphones are specially designed to create a life like natural sound. Re-creating this with a non-leather product turned out to be tougher than we expected. After several revisions, we believe we have a non leather ear pad that we feel is a good replacement. The new earpads are made from faux suede (polyester microfiber) and use non-toxic and environmetally safe dyes.

Note- This is not a new product. The LCD-2s can be specially ordered with these pads. Orders will take a little bit longer to complete than usual.

Here are some pictures of the LCD-2 (Vegan version).

Their description suggests that they might not be as good as the leather pads. Nevertheless,

has anyone ordered these pads as replacements or as part of a new pair of LCD-2s? If so, how do they feel? Do they match the sound of the leather pads? Thanks for any feedback.

The answer is yes, I just got the new "Vegan" earpads via Fedex early this afternoon. I was going to let them sit until this evening before installing them, but, I couldn't wait. So, here goes my preliminary impression with some photos of the pads and how I installed them.

The pads:

The pads came in a box with no instructions, but I knew about the link to the website video instructions: http://audeze.com/padschange. You will need all the tools they specify.

Step 1: very carefully remove each earphone. The shiny adhesive is what is left after you carefully remove each leather earpad. Not much in my case and no vinyl residue that Audeze cautions to remove. I found that the original leather earpads were unexpectedly hard to peel off the earphones. I did not damage anything.

Step 2:

With Exacto knife, remove shiny side of PSA ring backing and carefully center on earphone and press down hard around circumference of entire earphone to make sure adhesive has properly adhered.

Then, with Exacto knife, carefully remove the white backing of the PSA ring. I kept a little pressure with one finger behind the backing as I was very slowly peeling it up and off to make sure the transparent glue ring did not pull off the metal earphone (the area where the transparent glue ring goes over the 4 small philips screws in the outer circumference of the earphone, in the photo below (sorry this one's a little blurry), is where there can be an issue).

Step 3:

Very carefully align the thinner edge of the earpad with the round hole (which does not have the added slot -- see video --. The correct hole is shown in the photos.) Once aligned, press down hard around the entire earpad to secure it to the adhesive PSA material. NOTE WELL: The Vegan earpads to not have any vertical seam that I could find that helps align the thin side of the earpads with the earphone's hole. This is a "by sight" alignment.

As I have been writing this, I have been casually listening, they do sound slightly more open. They are thicker than my original pads, hence the angle is greater which could account for the added openess along with the different material. Contrary to what Sankar told me, I don't really hear any loss of bass, but I haven't yet listened to all my test tracks to come to a final decision about bass. They are very, very comfortable; more so than my original leather pads or the velour pads on my DT-990s. They pick up specks of dirt easily. I also prefer the look.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alsdruff

hi rizlaw,

just curious whether you have tried those vegan earpads meanwhile and how they affect the sound.

I use to not be able to wear the LCD-2's for too long without discomfort but I just got the vegan leather free ear pads today and I can tell you from first hand experience they are much more comfortable than the leather ones! I have had them on for 3 hours so far and they feel great. I'm really happy :)

Did you just contact Audeze about the vegan pads and how much did they cost?

I jumped on the "Vegan" ear pads too, after reading about them in this thread. I ordered them through the drop-down menu on this page: http://audeze.com/earpads

The cost is $80 plus shipping. They were sent to me via FedEx 2-day delivery and arrived yesterday.

The installation was easy and quick; the original adhesive ring remained intact on the headphones and not even a scrap remained on the original leather ear pads. The new adhesive rings apply easily on top of the original.

Comfort??? Wow, these new pads are really plush and I can wear the LCD-2s much longer without aches around my ears from the pressure. I'm rather sensitive to pressure on my skin when wearing headphones, but this change to the vegan pads made a big difference for me.

I notice no difference in the SQ with these pads; music still sounds first rate with them.

I recently just auditioned the LCD2 and 3's and it was really tough for me to pass them up because they were just too uncomfortable to wear. I stumbled on this thread and it seems like these pads might help but my main question is, do these pads change the uneven clamping force that is present with the default pads? To be specific, when I wore them the clamping was almost completely on the front part of the pads (in front of the ear) and there was no clamp at the rear of the pad. Not only did it cause soreness for me but made the headphones feel like they wanted to slide forward. The headphones had very strange ergonomics to say the least.

Edit - I wanted to add a thought that ran through my head at the time I was inspecting them at the shop. The pads are much thicker in the rear and the way the headband distributes more force to the front of the pad made me want to literally rotate the pad 180deg so that the thick part was in the front instead of the rear. Has anyone tried this?

I have a plan of doing just that, turning the headband around. Also - the foamy headband is supposed to be more comfy than the leather (which is bulky) but I haven't tried the leather myself. I also feel the LCD (2, rev 1 I have) clamp more in front than in the back, I wear them as far in front as possible. Why don't you get a used pair of LCD-2's, and try it out for a while? Then you can upgrade later (if you want to).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundbot

Edit - I wanted to add a thought that ran through my head at the time I was inspecting them at the shop. The pads are much thicker in the rear and the way the headband distributes more force to the front of the pad made me want to literally rotate the pad 180deg so that the thick part was in the front instead of the rear. Has anyone tried this?